..AWEN NEWS...AWEN NEWS...AWEN NEWS...AWEN NEW NEW AUTHORS JOIN AWEN! Exciting times at Awen Towers. We are welcoming a raft of fabulous new authors onto our list, with the planned Awen poetry anthology to be published this winter (see below). Among the many talented contributors is Frome-based eco-poet, Bard of Bath, and Forest School educator, Helen Moore. Find out more about her here.  Nature's Words: Selected Ecopoems by Helen Moore features 14 of Helen's poems, with music by Ken Masters and additional voice and bodhran from Niall Mcdevitt. It has been published by Greenseer Books and producted by Patrick Ryan at Hillside Studios. Awen is distributing it and copies can be obtained from our bookshop shortly. Contact us to place an order.
NOW ALL CAN FOLLOW THE WAY OF AWEN Awen Publications founder Kevan Manwaring launched his new non-fiction book, The Way of Awen: journey of a bard on June 25th with a very special launch event at Chapel Arts Centre, Bath. There was live music from local diva Saravian, a finger buffet and a free glass of mead. Kevan gave an inspiring talk about the book and read extracts to a full house. He was delighted to be able to personally thank two great inspirations of his bardic career - the legendary Robin Williamson (Incredible String Band); and Greywolf. Afterwards, folk decamped upstairs for a sublime concert by Robin, who treated the audience to some old classics from his vast repertoire; breathtaking covers (notably Bob Dylan's No Direction Home); and new material from his new album "Just Like The River And Other Songs With Guitar". In the book Kevan explores the Welsh legend of Taliesin in great depth - seeing it as a blueprint for the path of bardic development; and he charts his own journey, with extracts from notebooks and journals from the last 20 years - showing how he applies what he calls the Way of Awen on a daily basis: in work, play, relationships, travel, and times of emotional crisis (eg the death of his father). It is his most revealing book yet - the authentic experience of a modern day bard. He shares key moments in his journey as a bard - his first poetry collection, his first storytelling performance, first commission, winning the Bardic Chair of Bath, professional performances, judging eisteddfodau, becoming a publisher, nurturing new talent... Kevan, who has carved a creative career (originally a Fine Art graduate, he went on to train in Art in Community Development) truly believes the Way of Awen is for everyone - not just for those wishing to follow the bardic path. 'It is about living creatively - something everyone should do. It's essential to the health of the individual and their community to express yourself, to have your story told and heard - although creativity can manifest in many ways equally as valid: in cooking, gardening, fashion, music, gatherings, ways of doing business, of organising our food, energy, transport, economy. The human imagination is one of the most under-rated but essential renewable resources we have - with it anything is possible, including solutions to the many challenges we face.' Most of all he hopes the book will inspire people to honour their own sacred creativity. The Way of Awen is published by O Books. Order here ISBN:978-1-84694-311-9 Price: £14.99/$29.95 P'back 391pp Several talks are already lined up this year - see Diary - if you are interested in one get in touch. Check out The Way of Awen website - and awaken to your true creative self today: www.wayofawen.com__________________________________________________ AWEN ANTHOLOGY PLANNED Exciting plans are afoot in Awen Towers this summer. Jay Ramsay and Kevan Manwaring are planning a flagship Awen anthology of eco-spiritual poetry. They have invited poets they feel are contemporary ambassadors of a new movement - visionary voices offering a positive alternative to the Post-Modern cul-de-sac of the mainstream. Jay was instrumental in the Angels of Fire movement in London in the 80s - which culminated in ground-breaking concerts, a prestigious anthology and a TV documentary - it seemed to capture the Counter Cultural zeitgeist of that harshly materialist decade, offering a way out of its Capitalist impasse. He feels there is a modern resurgence of this spirit, which deserves recognition in print. A launch extravaganza is planned in Bath, at Chapel Arts Centre, on 28th November - William Blake's birthday - in the spirit of the awesome Heaven's Gate event held last year in Stroud's Subscription Rooms. Watch this space...
BARDS IN THE DESERT This April and May two Awen authors have been staying in the deserts of Egypt and finding inspiration. In April Jay Ramsay was the guest of the Makhad Trust, whom he spent a week with in Sinai Desert, composing a new sequence of poems. In May Kevan Manwaring was Writer-in-Residence at El Gouna, on the Red Sea, for a month. While there he worked on his desert-based novel, The Burning Path - part of his ongoing series, The Windsmith Elegy. Invited by Panel members of the Embassy of Knowledge he gave a reading and donated copies of his books to their branch of the new Alexandrian Library. Both hope their writing will manifest in future Awen performances and publications. Watch this space!
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